Sarah's Sauce
Glamorous Mom in our Mallette St. house in Chapel Hill. You can’t see the newel post, but trust me it’s the same as the one in Maine.
The stairs and newel post in our new (old) 1926 house in Maine.
The Mallette St. house in early renovation stages. Chapel Hill, NC. Probably 1976 or so?
We have a whole New England side of the family! My Dad’s mother was from upstate New York. So, we definitely spent some time in the Northeast back in the day. Also, apparently my Great Grandma Greene visited Tennessee and PARTIED!
Dad (middle) at his aunt’s wedding in Rochester, NY. I’ve always loved this pic!
Mom in Rye, NY when they lived there. 1967
Mom at Conesus Lake, Upstate NY. Summer 1979.
The Reeds at a Family Reunion at Uncle Rich’s house on Lake Champlain in Vermont. Maybe 1982 or so?
Me visiting my ancestor’s grave in Tiverton, Rhode Island when I was in college. Grandma Reed asked that I tend it. Maybe 1992 or so?
Mom with me at my RISD graduation. Providence, Rhode Island. 1994.
I just had the shower OF MY LIFE! We arrived in Maine on Sunday night after driving for 3 straight days, only stopping to sleep. I guess I should tell you our big news: we sold our event hall in Texas and bought an investment property in Maine! We had a soft landing in Portland, staying the night at Chris’ cousin’s house, but came in hot on Monday showing up to our new house with 2 mattresses with sheets and pillows but otherwise minimal comforts. And, we are IN IT, pulling up carpet, painting, and ……..
Well, the above was written over a week ago and I never got around to continuing it! Since then we’ve been working like dogs trying to get this house done in under a month. My dad and Linda stopped by and uttered some encouraging words about our project. No wonder I feel at home in this Maine house, Dad tells me it was built only 2 years before our Mallette St. house in Chapel Hill! The baseboard proportions and window frames are the same – it even has the same newel post on the stairs.
Back to that shower …. I can really appreciate a good shower because our Mallette St. house did not have one until I was in my teens. Originally the house had two bathrooms, one on each floor, each with a tub. Tubs are great for little kids but at some point the notion of showering became very exotic and appealing to me. I loved sleeping over at my friends’ houses and taking showers: Robin’s bathroom had a penguin shower curtain, Emily’s was located off of her bedroom and was connected to her sister’s bathroom through a shared tub with sliding frosted glass doors on each side. That arrangement didn’t make you feel particularly secure. Although, there always was Finesse shampoo at Emily’s, which was a plus. Do you remember that old shampoo from the 70s and 80s? Prell, anyone?! I swear we had one in a glass bottle that got broken and neon green goo poured out all over our bathroom. When I would pack for camp in the summer I would take great care in picking out my shower supplies: a bucket with holes in the bottom, shampoo, conditioner, a plastic soap container with a slimy bar of Ivory in it. I once met a girl in college who had a sister named Breck. I asked her if it was a family name. She said, no, they just liked the name of the shampoo.
At some point I got hip to the Chapel Hill shower scene and figured out that the Community Rec Center had some available in their locker rooms. I was probably in 5th or 6th grade. Several times a week I would pay 25 cents to take the F bus down Franklin St. to the center where I would kind of half-ass use the Nautilus equipment and then take a long, glorious shower with a lot of bold naked old ladies. I’m not sure that my parents knew about this but it seemed totally normal to me.
Now, the tubs in our Mallette house *were* useful for something. My sister and I would regularly play in them. On weekends we would each select a bathroom and would decorate it and “move in”. We made a cozy bed in the bathtub and schlepped in various art, toys, and luxuries. Elisabeth and I recently spoke about this and wondered if perhaps we were influenced by spending time in bomb shelters in Jerusalem during our formative years. We LOVED this game! And, God forbid anyone had to actually use the bathroom that day. Out of luck!
Speaking of, I could be kind of a bratty little sister. Elisabeth was really pretty good about letting me hang out with her and her friends, but one time she and a friend were playing in the upstairs bathroom and wouldn’t let me in. I was incensed! Mom was teaching piano and couldn’t be bothered. I told Elisabeth I had to use the bathroom. [I didn’t.]. She ignored me. So, I drank and drank and drank and drank water until I actually did have to go and then I pulled down my pants and, yup, let it out in the hall outside the bathroom door. Never mind that there was another bathroom downstairs. I thought that Mom would for sure see my side when she found out and punish my sister. Well, that backfired!
Being in Maine is wonderful, particularly since it hit 108 in Austin the other day. Another bonus, besides the weather, is the food. My daughter and I are both pescatarians and the seafood here in Mid-coast Maine is amazing! Oddly, Mom didn’t like seafood. She would eat shrimp and crab but I don’t ever remember her cooking fish. She also didn’t like nuts or coconut. Maybe she was allergic, I can’t remember. But, consequently, I didn’t have good fish until college in Rhode Island. And, now, it’s one of my favorite things to eat!
Looking at Mom’s recipes and there is nary a fish one, but she did save a recipe I gave her for a cooking sauce. She cooked chicken in it, I cooked fish. She calls it “Sarah’s Sauce” but I actually got it from this woman named Mariska who I worked with in catering when I first moved to Austin. The recipe is extremely loose, but it’s kind of hard to go wrong with these ingredients.
SARAH’S SAUCE FOR CHICKEN & FISH
Combine equal parts, more or less, of:
Lime juice
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
Garlic
Ginger, crushed or finely minced (Sarah’s note: I keep my ginger in the freezer and use a microplane to grate it. Someone pointed out that this seems like a lot of ginger. I say definitely use as much ginger as garlic. The liquid proportions may be slightly larger.)
Sarah’s note: I usually make about a cup or so of this sauce. Maybe err on the too much side in case it cooks down quickly.
Pour the sauce in a deep saute pan. Add a layer of fish or chicken on top. Cover with lid and cook on low/medium, steaming the protein. When you think it is close to being done, throw some green beans or green onions on top. Serve with rice and ladle sauce on top.
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